DavidGilbert99 writes: "The Shamoon malware is suspected of being the virus responsible for the devastating attack on the world's largest crude oil producer Saudi Aramco but security experts at Kaspersky Lab say the developers were amateurs who made "silly mistakes" and used "crude" solutions to programming problems.

While the identity of the people behind the Aramco attack remains a mystery, one clue was given by the creators of the Shamoon malware. Within the code, Kaspersky Labs experts found a fragment of a picture of a burning US flag — hinting at a possible political motivation. However the fragment was hidden in plain sight so to speak and was there to be found according to the experts investigating the malware, meaning it could be something of a red herring.

While a group called the Cutting Sword of Justice has claimed responsibilty, another security expert, Sean Sullivan from F-Secure, believes there is no credible reason for believing their claims.

"Just like last week's claim that the Apple UDID debacle lies at the FBI's door, the latest conspiracy theory that the previously unknown 'Cutting Sword of Justice' are behind attacks on Saudi Aramco is completely unsubstantiated.“

“There is no evidence linking the group to this highly devastating attack, which is as likely to be an inside job as it is the work of industrial competitors looking to influence oil prices.,”"